The Soyuz rocket had taken off at 14:40 local time (08:40 GMT) in Kazakhstan for a four-orbit, six-hour journey to the ISS.

Mr Hague and Mr Ovchinin were due to spend six months on the station working on a number of scientific experiments.

Analysis: An uncomfortable ride back to Earth

By Jonathan Amos, BBC science correspondent

Soyuz is one of the oldest rocket designs but also one of the safest. The malfunction appeared to occur around what is termed “staging”, where the ascending vehicle goes through the process of discarding its empty fuel segments.

The onboard astronauts were certainly aware that something was not right because they reported feeling weightless when they should have felt pushed back in their seats. The escape systems are tested and ready for exactly this sort of eventuality. It would have been an uncomfortable ride back to Earth, however. The crew would have experienced very high gravitational forces.

There is already much discussion about the current state of Russian industry and its ability to maintain the standards of yesteryear. Whatever the outcome of the inquiry, this event will only heighten those concerns and will underline to the US in particular the need to bring online new rocket systems. These vehicles, produced by the Boeing and SpaceX companies, are set to make their debut next year.